Auditor looks at Southaven Mayor Greg Davis' utility fund stipend

Aldermen asked to review city card charges

Earlier this month Southaven mayor Greg Davis addressed questions during an interview from his home.

The Mississippi Auditor's Office is investigating the $35,000 utility fund stipend that Southaven Mayor Greg Davis until recently received as part of his salary, and auditors also plan to ask aldermen for a second review of charges by Davis on his city-issued credit card.

"We are checking to see if he has to repay that money to the city and the legality of it," Lisa Shoemaker, a spokesman for Auditor Stacey Pickering's office, said of the utility stipend.

Davis started receiving the $35,000 annual stipend to oversee the department after the accidental drowning of utility director Chris Hadaway in 2009.

After The Commercial Appeal reported the stipend, it was cut on Jan. 18 by Alderman Greg Guy while he was acting mayor in Davis' absence.

The stipend -- along with two others, a $5,000 educational stipend and a $2,700 longevity stipend -- have since all come under scrutiny.

Coupled with the mayor's $145,000 annual salary, the stipends brought Davis' salary to more than $187,000, making him one of the highest-paid elected officials in the state.

Aldermen are awaiting an opinion from the state Attorney General's Office on the legality of the educational and longevity stipends before deciding whether to cut them from Davis' salary.

Shoemaker said the educational and longevity stipends will not be investigated by the Auditor's Office because they fall under city-related business.

Meanwhile, she said auditors have asked the Southaven Board of Aldermen to once again review charges Davis made on his city-issued credit card.

"We're asking them for a second review," Shoemaker said.

The mayor's expenses since last year have been the focus of an ongoing state auditor's and federal investigation.

In November, the Auditor's Office ordered that Davis repay $170,000 in personal charges, penalties and interest to the city for unsubstantiated expenses spent on family counseling, personal trips, meals and clothing, including $67 spent at a gay sex shop in Toronto.

Through a group of supporters, Davis has repaid $96,000 of the money but still owes nearly $63,000.

Shoemaker said before the remainder of the money is repaid, auditors want to "look under a microscope at everything related to Mayor Davis."

That includes his mileage reimbursements from the city, his travel expenses and a $1,000 donation he made to a political action committee supporting Mississippi State University, his alma mater.

Alderman Ronnie Hale said board members have been going over the credit card statements for the past few weeks and hope to wrap up an internal investigation by next week.

"We have been working to verify each charge to see if they are personal in nature," Hale said. "Most of it has been easy to track to being a city expense, but there are a few questionable items that we are getting explanations for."

He said once the board finishes with its examination of the statements, it will turn over its findings to auditors.

Shoemaker said the Auditor's Office is still reviewing the board's liability related to the expenses.

"We are working to wrap everything up sooner rather than later," Shoemaker said. "And yes, it is still under review if the board will be held liable for any of the charges."